A miter saw generally includes a circular blade having a centrally located hole for mounting the blade to a rotatable shaft. The blade is conventionally mounted to an end of the rotatable shaft in compression between an inner flange and outer flange or washer and held by a conventional arbor bolt threaded into a threaded bore in the shaft.
Circular saw blades must be replaced periodically due to blade wear and to accommodate a variety of different cutting uses. In order to install or remove a blade, a wrench typically must be used to supply sufficient torque to remove the bolt from the shaft. Inconveniences are incurred by the use of a conventional bolt to mount a circular saw blade. For example, the task of obtaining an appropriate wrench can be time consuming, and using the wrench can be cumbersome. Additional inefficiencies can result if the wrench is misplaced between blade changes.
Some existing tool free blade change systems suffer from problems during operation of the saw. A miter saw generates substantial torque when the saw blade rotationally accelerates or decelerates. Such acceleration or deceleration can occur, for example, when the rotating blade first contacts a material to be worked or when the blade first completes a cut and is no longer in contact with the material. In some instances, the saw can generate enough torque to self-tighten the blade change system holding the blade on the saw. It is therefore desirable to provide an improved mechanism for removing and replacing a circular saw blade. Additionally, it is desirable to provide a system that enables a quick and easy removal of the circular saw blade without additional tools.